Poker is agonizing sometimes but I like it...

Heads up update 4/24: One observation in heads up I've noticed is that if you are playing a very aggressive player and he is raising a lot pre-flop. Your best move when your opponent makes a big pre-flop bet, is to go all in with AK, AQ, AJ, A10, possibly A9 or A8 or QJs or KJs, KK, KQs, QQ, JJ, 10-10, 9-9, and possibly even 88. Don't make a big raise which is definitely going to get called by a loose player and is most likely the right call by him given the odds. The other thing is after making a big bet and getting called, you won't know what the hell to do after the flop.... Just go all in and take your chances, i've won 4 out of 6 heads up matches this way or at least either got back in the match or had the best of it going to the flop...The one occasion where I didn't go all in but just reraised, I got played back at and made the mistake of not folding. My A9 lost to his A10.

Poker is a game of skill and chance. Especially when it comes to No Limit Hold'em, which is a very popular game right now. One of the best no limit players is Phil Hellmuth, and he's even better because he flies off the handle when he loses. He also is one of the best Heads up players in the world, and I gotta tell you....I've played in a lot of tournaments online and offline and for me heads up is one of the toughest games to play. You really have to decide whether or not you want to gamble and when to raise with marginal hands etc....which makes it a lot tougher. Below are some pictures of Phil Hellmuth in agony, good for at least a mild laugh and also some poker discussion. To discuss poker in the Vanilla Afro message board click here

I've been playing poker for a couple years online and done pretty well in tournaments. Basically I think the best online tournament strategy in the lower limits say below $30 is to play very tight, i.e. only play AK, AA, AQ 8's or better (10's Jacks etc...) in early position and mix in only pre-flop bluffs with 2 or less opponents and in late position. Also, only bluff against opponents that are also tight on the table. Also if say you have a hand like AQ and miss the flop, you should most likely always follow through with a bet on the flop if there are less than 3 people still in the hand (this is recommended highly in Dan Harrington's book ( Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Volume I: Strategic Play

and Harrington on Hold'em Expert Strategy for No limit Tournaments: Endplay, 2

), that old fuck). This gives you another chance to win the hand, since there is a lot of chips in play and also if people do call you, you still may have some outs, i.e. an Ace or a Queen. Now in the higher limits say over $50(big spender eh..), I haven't played them that much but the times I did win and was able to play in sit and go tournaments over $50, the best strategy normally was to bluff a lot and play very aggressive. The only reason really is because most of the players at the higher sit-n-go's play very tight, except for drunk bastards.

Don't ask me, I've tried playing heads up online and lost about 15 out of 20 times. any suggestions email me at info@vanillaafro.com or discuss it on the boards

The ugliest poker player has to be Barry Greenstein, he looks like the living dead, and even though he's a great player and donates all this tournament money to charity, he still is one ugly looking motherfucker, judge for yourself

Phil Hellmuth pictured below
$\"Phil$	$\"Phil$

Barry Greenstein pictured below
$\"Barry$	$\"still$